Florida's Latest News

'Blackout Wednesday': NHTSA says drunk driving spikes on Thanksgiving Eve or 'Drinksgiving'

Day and night before Thanksgiving (aka Black Wednesday, Awkward Wednesday or Whiskey Wednesday) are among most dangerous times on the road, traffic safety group says. 

Over 830 people died in crashes involving a drunk driver during the Thanksgiving holiday weekend from 2017-2021, the NHTSA said. 44% of the drunk drivers in fatal crashes in that time period were from 21 to 24 years old.

Thanksgiving is a time for family and fellowship, for taking time to reflect on the things you're most grateful for while tucking into the feast of your choice. And it follows one of the heaviest drinking nights in the year, as many people are leaving work with the next day off and students are returning from college and meeting up to party with family and old friends. 

“Every single drunk driving death is preventable. Every single drunk driving death forever leaves an empty seat at the table,” Helen Witty, then the president of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD), said in 2019. “Thanksgiving is a time for tradition and family gatherings. Please, don’t let it turn into a time of tragedy.”

State proposes new health care workforce reporting data.

AHCA published the proposed rule amendment as the Legislature prepares to delve into healthcare workforce issues during the 2024 Session.

The DeSantis administration is moving to amend its licensure regulations to require certain long term care providers to submit health care workforce data to the state.

The Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) on Monday published a proposed amendment to its licensure rule that would require licensure application forms for nursing homes, assisted living facilities, home health agencies, and homemaker/companion service providers to include data on pay, benefit, vacancy and turnover rates for registered nurses and direct care workers, a term that includes certified nursing assistants (CNAs), home health aides, and personal care assistants.

The law also requires the facilities to report to the state the contributing factors behind staff turnovers. AHCA was directed to develop a survey meant to capture the information that the facilities are required to use. The information was required, effective Jan. 1, 2021, to be submitted to the state during the licensure renewal applications. The law banned AHCA from renewing any licenses from facilities that didn’t report the data.

How Florida law fails to protect mobile homeowners facing eviction

When tenants face eviction from a mobile home park, they are often at risk of losing their own property, too. One Dade City woman shares her story. 

Janie DeCoil shows up to court alone. She’s representing herself in an eviction case over mobile home park rule violations.

She’s a spunky 70-year-old woman in a colorful top and bright-blue eyeshadow. Her gray mullet is pulled back at her shoulders.

DeCoil takes a seat across the aisle from the mobile home park’s owner and her attorney. Her table is bare except for the single, plastic folder filled with handwritten notes on her defense. The hearing begins with an examination of DeCoil about the state of her yard.

“There’s a great deal of debris here, what is all of this?” the plaintiff’s attorney questioned.

When DeCoil failed to clean up her yard after several notices, it made her vulnerable to eviction. That’s because Florida’s law is clear: Mobile home park owners hold the right to evict tenants who break their rules. Under Chapter 723, everything outside of DeCoil's mobile home falls under the purview of the park owner.

The flu is soaring in Florida and other states, health officials say.

Traditionally, the winter flu season ramps up in December or January. But it took off in October last year and is making a November entrance this year.

The U.S. flu season is underway, with at least seven states reporting high levels of illnesses and cases rising in other parts of the country, health officials say.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention posted new flu data on Friday, showing very high activity last week in Louisiana, and high activity in Florida, Alabama, Georgia, Mississippi, New Mexico and South Carolina. It also was high in the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, the U.S. territory where health officials declared an influenza epidemic this month.

“We’re off to the races,” said Dr. William Schaffner, a Vanderbilt University infectious diseases expert. Tracking during flu season relies in part on reports of people with flu-like symptoms who go to doctors’ offices or hospitals; many people with the flu are not tested, so their infections aren’t lab-confirmed. COVID-19 and other respiratory viruses can muddy the picture.